bicultural German/Italian program leading to the matura (=high school diploma,
level of an ... years until the students take their bilingual matura exams.
The Bilingual Matura at Zurich High Schools Bilingual Programs: Since 2001, high schools in the canton of Zurich (Kantonsschulen) can offer bilingual programs German/English. At that point, the Liceo Artistico had already been offering a bicultural German/Italian program leading to the matura (=high school diploma, level of an international baccalaureate) for many years. Structure: One or two classes of students per year are taught various subjects in English. The program is called immersion program and leads to a bilingual matura which is recognized in the Canton of Zurich as well as in the rest of Switzerland. The bilingual program begins at the earliest after the try-out period of about three months and takes, depending on the school’s particular immersion program, between two to four years until the students take their bilingual matura exams. The program is run in one or several of the matura profiles the school offers. Besides the regular foreign language classes, the students are taught at least two matura subjects in English while all the remaining subjects are taught in German. At the Literargymnasium Rämibühl and at the Realgymnasium Rämibühl students can additionally get an International Baccalaureate (double degree: matura diploma and IB). Immersion classes: In immersion classes, not the language but the subject is the focus of attention. There is a crucial difference between traditional foreign language classes, in which teachers try to influence the language learning process, and immersion classes, in which language learning happens “naturally” when students engage with subject contents. Since 2010 also bilingual programs German/French are offered. These programs include a stay in the French speaking part of Switzerland where the students involved attend a local high school. The students attend regular classes in the partner school in the Romandie and live with a host family for half a semester or a full semester while profiting from total immersion. Schools: The following 18 schools currently offer bilingual maturas: Literargymnasium Rämibühl (German/English) (double degree matura diploma and IB) Realgymnasium Rämibühl (German/English) (double degree matura diploma and IB) Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliches Gymnasium Rämibühl (German/English) Kantonsschule Hohe Promenade Zürich (German/English) Kantonsschule Stadelhofen Zürich (German/English) Kantonsschule Hottingen Zürich (German/English) Kantonsschule Enge Zürich (German/English) Kantonsschule Wiedikon Zürich (German/English) Kantonsschule Rychenberg Winterthur (German/English) Kantonsschule Im Lee Winterthur (German/English) Kantonsschule Büelrain Winterthur (German/English) Kantonsschule Zürcher Unterland (German/English) Kantonsschule Limmattal, Urdorf (German/English) Kantonsschule Küsnacht (German/English, including a bilingual program at the junior high school level (Untergymnasium)) Kantonale Maturitätsschule für Erwachsene (German/English) Kantonsschule Freudenberg Zürich (German/French) Kantonsschule Zürich Nord (German/English and German/French) Liceo Artistico (Geman/Italian)
Admission: Basically, the bilingual programs are open to any student willing to increase their ability to actively communictate in the target language and ready to take on the extra work this involves. Students do not need to be native speakers of English or French. Prerequisites for admittance to the program are passing the high school entrance exams and good grades in German and maths. While every student who has passed the high school entrance exam has a right to being admitted to a high school, there is no guarantee for students to be accepted to a bilingual program due to the limited number of courses offered. Qualification of the teachers: Teachers teaching immersively must be in possession of a master degree from a university in their subject and of the teaching diploma of the Höheres Lehramt Mittelschulen). Furthermore, they must have a university degree in English (French) or proof of similar qualifications. They also have to take a methodological-didactical course on immersion teaching. Such a course is being offered to immersion teachers of English in a two-semester class at the Institut für Erziehungswissenschaft at the University of Zurich. For teachers in bilingual German/French programs a similar course is organized ever other year. In addition, a concept for continuing education classes in English as immersion language is currently being developed. 2013_11_13/wi
